Oxfam in Uganda Calls for Action Against Climate Change

Oxfam International Media Statement
17 July 2008

Oxfam in Uganda today launches a new report and video on climate change and its impacts in Uganda , and calls on the government to speed up the process of adapting to climate change by immediately implementing the National Adaptation Programmes of Action.

" We all witnessed first hand the devastation caused by the floods and landslides last year, and scientific experts warn that with the current change in climatic conditions, this is just the beginning of these sorts of natural disasters," said Savio Carvalho, Oxfam Country Director in Uganda.

"Rich nations must cut their greenhouse gas emissions, but unless poor countries increase adaptation efforts, we are likely to see increased deaths and displacements due to hunger, floods and landslides as well as epidemics as a result of climate change," he added. ",

In the report and video documentary - Turning Up the Heat: Climate Change and Poverty in Uganda - Oxfam presents the voices of suffering rural and urban poor men and women who have suffered as a result of increasing droughts, floods, epidemics and food insecurity caused by climate change.

People in Uganda , whose contribution to global warming has been miniscule, are feeling the impacts of climate change first and worst. There is more erratic rainfall in the March to June rainy season, bringing drought and reductions in crop yields and plant varieties. Then the rainfall towards the end of the year, is more intense and destructive, bringing floods, landslides and soil erosion. If temperatures rise too far, Uganda 's coffee crop is in danger of extinction.

Oxfam believes that increasing people's capacity to adapt to climate change will achieve a double benefit, by contributing to the goal of overcoming poverty and suffering in Uganda and achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 (MDGs).

"It would be hypocritical for anyone to expect the world to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals while at the same time ignoring the major drivers of poverty, among which is climate change. Achieving the MDGs by 2015 is dependent on availability of adequate resources and opportunities to poor people, especially the rural population that depend on agriculture and natural resources, which are all under serious threat due to climate change", said Carvalho.

During the research, Oxfam visited several parts of the country listening to poor men and women who have borne the brunt of climate change effects. From the natural disaster prone areas of the Rwenzori region to the drought-hit areas of Karamoja, the researchers heard rural and urban people describe how their livelihoods and traditions face serious threat and even possibly ultimate extinction.

The lead researcher on "Turning Up the Heat", John Magrath, said: "Climate change is happening and makes life more difficult for poor people.. There is need for concerted efforts from government authorities, local leaders, policy makers as well as civil society. These include environmental measures to reduce deforestation and restore wetlands, as well as measures to reduce poverty, like providing basic services like health and water, investing in agriculture and strengthening pastoralism through ensuring mobility.

Internationally, Oxfam is calling on industrialised countries to rapidly and drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Rich countries must also make sure that no National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) fails for lack of finance, and must go on to fund adaptation costs in full and in addition to existing aid commitments.

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Oxfam Ireland is an independent member of Oxfam International- a group of thirteen non-governmental agencies dedicated to fighting poverty and related injustice around the world.

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